DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 1, 2022) – The No. 5 seeded Mercy College women's basketball team plays at No. 4 seeded Roberts Wesleyan College in the First Round of the ECC Women's Basketball Championship on Wednesday, March 2nd at 7 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Wednesday, March 2nd 7 p.m.
Records: No. 5 Mercy (11-15, 9-9 ECC), No. 4 Roberts Wesleyan (13-11, 10-8 ECC)
Location: Rochester, N.Y.
Tickets
Purchase tickets at eccsports.org/tickets.
$8 General Admission – Adult
$4 General Admission – Child/Student/Senior
Last Meeting
Roberts Wesleyan earned a 57-55 win over Mercy on January 26, 2022.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy is coming off a 65-51 loss at UDC on Saturday. The Mavericks were led by senior Taysha Bender who had a team-high 16 points and by sophomore Maria Tedesco who had 11 points with six rebounds. Mercy is making their first ECC Tournament appearance without every team making it since 2009. Mercy ended the regular season with their most regular season wins and most ECC wins since 1997. The Mavericks are looking to pick up their first postseason win since the 1991-92 season. Mercy has never won an ECC title and is looking for their first ever win at Roberts Wesleyan. The Mavericks picked up their first ever win over the Redhawks earlier this season on December 17, 2021. The winner of Wednesday's game will play at top seed Daemen College in a Semifinal matchup on Saturday, March 5th at 12 p.m. The Championship Game will be held on Sunday, March 6th at 12 p.m. at Daemen College. Mercy was picked seventh in the ECC Coaches' Poll after going 1-8 in 2021. Junior Katie Wall is a two-time ECC Player of the Week, one-time MBWA Division II-III Player of the Week Honorable Mention and two-time Honor Roll recipient and ranks fourth in the ECC in points per game (15.9), second in assists (4.5) and is second in steals per game (2.5). Wall has scored 20 or more points in 10 games this season. Bender was named to the ECC Honor Roll on January 24th and ranks seventh in the conference in points per game (14.5) with 2.0 made threes per game. Bender had a career-high 26 points in the win over UDC on January 15th. The senior has scored in double figures in 11 of her last 13 games. Junior Kellie Nudd was named to the ECC Honor Roll and Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) Division II-III Player of the Week Honorable Mention on December 20th and is averaging 10.3 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per game. The junior has scored in double figures in 13 games this year. Junior Asha Talib was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on November 22nd and is posting 6.5 points per game with 5.8 rebounds per game. Tedesco is averaging 6.0 points per game and a team-high 6.0 rebounds per game and has scored in double figures in four games this year.
Scouting the Redhawks
Roberts Wesleyan is coming off a 66-65 overtime loss to Bridgeport on Saturday. The Redhawks are making their eighth straight appearance in the ECC Championship. This is the sixth time in those eight seasons that Roberts Wesleyan has started the tournament with a first round game at home. The Redhawks won the ECC Championship last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Roberts Wesleyan was picked second in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 12-7 last season. The Redhawks are senior Taryn Wilson who averages a team-high 13.4 points per game on 2.6 made threes per game. Sophomore Georgia Haverlock posts 11.9 points per game and sophomore Toni Neely-Primus averages 10.8 points per game. Senior Dimitra Gkizani is netting 10.9 points per game and a team-high 9.3 rebounds per game. Sophomore Danielle Dicintio leads the ECC with 5.3 assists per game and averages a team-high 1.6 steals per game with 5.7 points per game.
